*Neuwertig – COLE-HAAN “Goiser” Norwegian: 44.5D

The unremitting downward trajectory of the Cole-Haan brand in recent history has only been arrested a few times and then only momentarily by the inspired inclusion among their usual commonplace inventory of some superior imports. First, for a short period in the 1990s, Edward Green supplied a limited number of oxfords to the New York and San Francisco stores, and in the early 2000s Cole-Haan presented a line of Italian shoes and boots of extraordinary quality and beauty from an unnamed manufacturer. These immediately garnered a cult following among American collectors and were quickly sold out everywhere, in spite of their $500-800 prices, more than double Cole-Haan’s usual prices at the time. The internet still has a few websites showing the oxfords from that collection…all of them long sold out. Finally, perhaps the most remarkable of these exceptional shoes is the shoe show here, a Norwegian both in style and in construction, the “Goiser” construction.

True Norwegian (or “Goiser”, from the Austrian mountain region of that name) construction is the most complicated construction in shoemaking, utilizing a twice-sewn “split reverse welt”, employed for its water-repellent properties. In Cole-Haan’s more than a century of existence and my half-century of collecting, this particular Norwegian is the single most intricately made shoe that I have ever seen presented by them, nor have I seen a second example of this shoe. It is an uncontested museum-piece. The split-toe and apron are hand raised and the 360 degree Goiser welt is further embellished with a 360 degree decorative braid. The choice of leathers alone would make this a must; a buttery saddle tan calf skin of peerless quality.